The Next Hokage
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?
1. Chapter 1

**The Next Hokage  
**

 **Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?**

 **A/N: Hello there! Here is another short story, about four, five chapters long. I hope you will like it! The idea occurred to me when I saw a picture on Pinterest and I just couldn't resist! Anyway, on to the story!**

"Why have you called us here, Tsunade-sama?" Hatake Kakashi, a special jonin dressed in the customary jonin attire with a face mask covering half of his face and his hitai-ate covering his left eye, asked when the whole of Konoha Eleven and their senseis finally settled around in the Hokage's office. It was rather early in the morning, so he couldn't blame them for being so restless. Quite a few of them had just returned from long missions, including Team 7.

Before them all sat a busty woman of misleading appearances. She looked to be only about twenty when in reality, she was probably over fifty years old. No one dared ask her what her true age was, as she had quite a tempter on her. And a monstrous strength that sent even the bravest men running for the hills if they did manage to piss her off. This woman was the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, Senju Tsunade, one of the three Legendary Sannin. She sat at her desk like a boss with her elbows leaning against the top, her fingers at her eye level as she stared at her ninja over them, interlocked. She had blond hair held up in two low ponytails and chocolate brown eyes. She was obviously in a foul mood so even the loudest of the gathered group were quiet and serious, fearing the possibility of bringing her rage upon them.

''I have called you here because I just found a very important document regarding the Hokage post.'' That got the group's attention but they remained quiet, knowing Tsunade will continue as she sees fit. ''Rather, who should have become the Godaime.''

''I don't understand.'' Gai admitted with a confused frown on his face. ''Aren't you the Godaime, Tsunade-sama?''

''Yes, Gai, but I was the second choice. Rather, the third, since Jiraiya had turned down the post, saying I was more suited. Someone had been envisioned as the Godaime many years ago and the document had been simply lost in the chaos or hidden somewhere by someone who was not pleased with the choice. We are still trying to figure out how the should-be Godaime was prevented from taking office three years ago, but that's not why I called you here. It's regarding this person's identity.''

''Who are they?'' Naruto asked curiously and everyone looked towards the scroll and the file underneath it that sat in the middle of the Hokage's desk. If anyone said they weren't curious, it would be an outright lie.

''And since when were they chosen to be the Godaime?'' Sakura questioned, equally curious. She kind of couldn't imagine anyone else other than Tsunade as the Godaime Hokage. But, then again, that's all they knew of. It's been three years since the Sannin took the post and everyone's more than used to her being their Hokage.

''They were chosen by the Yondaime Hokage not long after he took up the post himself." Tsunade began but Kurenai interrupted her with an incredulous screech.

"But that was sixteen years ago!"

"Actually, it was a few months longer." Kakashi corrected in a tight voice and the adults winced. Namikaze Minato and his team were a very sore topic for Kakashi since he was the only surviving member of said team. It would seem the wounds caused by their deaths have yet to heal. They kind of wondered if they ever would.

"Wait. If someone was already chosen, why did my father take back the position of Hokage?" Asuma asked, perplexed. "I mean, if there was a determined successor, why weren't they immediately made Godaime and instead my father returned to the office?"

"Simple, really." The medic nin master said as she leaned back from her desk, tapping the file there with a finger from her right hand. "They were not even six at the time. They hadn't even started the Academy yet. The kid was smart and wiser than most men twice _my_ age, but he was still only a child. And no matter how talented he was, no matter that he had made his first kill at four, he wouldn't have been accepted as Hokage at that age."

"So Sandaime-sama took up the post until the kid finished his training?" Kiba mumbled under his breath wondrously. "But shouldn't that person have been eighteen at the time of the Konoha Crush? Surely they'd be a fine ninja by then, if they were considered worthy of the Hokage post at such a young age. Why didn't they take the position then?"

"Well, for several reasons, actually. One, they didn't even know they were the successor. No one did but Sandaime and Yondaime. Two, the Council had already decided a Sannin should be Hokage, since only Jiraiya or I could match Orochimaru. Three, they weren't in the village at the time." The woman counted off and Yamato frowned.

"And his ninja rank?"

"And why didn't we just go get him like Ero-sennin and I went to get you?" Naruto asked curiously. Tsunade just sighed tiredly, opening the scroll before her.

"Because it's much more complicated than that. This guy was chosen when he was five, when people had no idea how he would turn out besides the fact that he's a genius." Kakashi stiffened a bit at this, as if sensing how this could turn out or fearing it altogether. "Today, this guy is a missing nin. A pretty wanted one, too. The price on his head is twice as much as Orochimaru's."

"Tsunade-sama, you can't mean ...?" The silver haired man asked and Tsunade nodded her head gravely. "But-"

"There's a whole other side of the massacre that is unknown to the public, Kakashi." That single 'm' word caused the other adults to pale as they suddenly realized what was going on and just _whom_ the next Hokage should have been. "A side Sarutobi-sensei carefully added as a post note in history in this very scroll."

"Then the Godaime should have been ... ?" Kurenai couldn't bring herself to finish so the Hokage did it for her.

"Uchiha Itachi." A deathly silence filled the room as Tsunade flipped open the file on her desk. There they saw the official files and profile of Uchiha Itachi, along with his picture for each rank he rose to. The statistics they were showed said the older Uchiha was adapt at every skill, with his IQ somehow being higher than even a Nara's, or so most of the group noted. "He, I am sure you all know, is a part of Akatsuki and the reason Sasuke joined Orochimaru. But that aside, he is called the Clan Killer. And while that may be true and a very well known fact among shinobi all over the world, what isn't known by _anyone_ is the fact that the massacre was ordered. By the Council of Advisors. By Shimura Danzo, to be more precise."

"What?!" Everyone flinched at the cold hiss that came from one very enraged Kakashi. Yamato had tensed up, probably feeling the same rage, but he wasn't showing it. Those two are probably the only ones allowed to _feel_ anger. After all, once upon a time, some seven years ago, Itachi had been their teammate in an ANBU platoon that went by the name of Team Ro. They had taken his crime half as badly as Sasuke had and they feel responsible for the path he took. Now, they weren't so sure as to what they should feel.

"Don't get so worked up. You haven't even heard the worst part yet." Kakashi's glare got even worse and Naruto started fearing that strange technique he used to severe Deidara's arm will appear again. "He wasn't just ordered - actually, he wasn't really ordered to do it, but rather offered - he was threatened into it. The Uchiha were planning a coup d'tat. Itachi was used as a double agent on both sides, that is by both the Uchiha and the ANBU. He informed Sarutobi-sensei and the Advisors of what his clan was planning and Sarutobi-sensei tried to get a better solution than to murder a clan of long lasting allies. But Danzo was impatient and he gave Itachi two choices: stand by his clan as they are all murdered, let a war start, but remain loyal to his family or kill the entire Uchiha Clan sans Sasuke, become a nukenin but prevent the war and as such save Konoha. I think his response was obvious. Sandaime learned of this only after the deed was done. Itachi reported he'll be staying with the Akatsuki, since they were offering him a safe haven and then just left. In the morning, they found the two teammates Danzo had assigned him when he became an ANBU Captain dead, having stabbed themselves through with their swords. Sandaime suspected Danzo sent them to kill him."

"They didn't stand a chance." Kakashi said with a sick sense of pride. He had been one of the two people who influenced Itachi's fighting style the most.

"No, they didn't. He apparently had them under a genjutsu since his last promotion." Shizune revealed, placing another two files on the table, both opened at the medical page and showing the report. "That was months before the massacre and, ultimately, these two's deaths."

"He held a genjutsu that long?" Kurenai couldn't help but wonder, stepping closer to see the three files. She frowned when she looked back at Itachi's. "But that doesn't make any sense. It says here Uchiha Itachi has smaller than average chakra reserves."

"That may be, but Itachi-kun has always had extraordinary chakra control. If I had to bet money on it, I'd say he could take down the Kyuubi with half his chakra reserves." Gai stated, looking grimly over to the two ex-ANBU who had worked with the weasel. When they nodded, tension filled the room.

"You said all of this was only a footnote." Shikamaru reminded, looking back at Tsunade. "What's the main story?"

"Itachi was born in a time of war," the Senju woman said. "Uchiha Fugaku met Minato on the battlefield while Minato was still only a teenager. They hit it off pretty much instantly, despite the age difference of some odd six years. By the time Itachi was born, they were the best of friends. The fact to prove this was that Minato was Itachi's godfather." Apparently, no one knew this, as even Kakashi, Minato's student, arched an eyebrow at this. "Itachi idolized his godfather and Minato pretty much adored Itachi. But then Itachi's potential started showing when he could outdo grown, trained, experienced shinobi in accuracy." At the confused looks she got, Tsunade elaborated. "He could hit more targets with kunai and shuriken at three than most shinobi at thirty could. Simply put, he's a genius."

"You've got to be kidding me," Neji uttered, staring with new fascination at the picture of the raven haired shinobi. "I know I grew up in a time of peace but my first training session was not until I was four!"

"I only started training at five, which is when I got Akamaru, too." Kiba whispered and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I started in the Academy," Sakura volunteered and Ino just nodded, as did Shikamaru and Chouji.

"I don't remember when I started, but I was pretty young, too." Sai said and most of the jonin nodded along.

"What talent ..." Lee murmured. "He must be a tough opponent!"

"I wouldn't cross his path if I could avoid it." Kakashi said in reply to Lee's observation.

"Then he's strong. And that's good, if he's really going to be our next Hokage." Tenten said optimistically until she saw the look on Tsunade's face. "Right?"

"That's the thing. We have _no_ idea if he'll even believe us even if we _do_ find him. I mean, even if he's a genius, it's pretty far fetched that he'll be chosen as Hokage at what? Six?" The Hokage's assistant said.

"Did he even make his first kill at that age?" Asuma asked. He sure as hell had, and Kakashi most certainly did at that age. They were the kids of war. They grew up pretty quick, even by shinobi standards.

"According to his record, he made his first kill at four, which is when he first saw the war battle ground." Shizune read, startling the group with the age they heard. "Apparently, his father took him out to see the battle. From a safe distance, of course, but Itachi had went down to give water to any survivors. An Iwa nin tried to kill him after Itachi gave him water and Itachi slit his throat before he could attack." She looked up at the gawking group of ninjas. "Or so the official report says. I somehow find it fitting. After all, we're talking about the youngest ANBU in history here."

"Youngest ANBU?" Ino repeated questioningly and Kakashi and Yamato nodded.

"He was only eleven when he picked up the mask." The brunet replied. "And he was a jonin for half a year before that and a chuunin half a year before _that_. He was a genin since seven, having spent barely a year in the Academy."

"He graduated with grades that were competing with Kakashi's and Minato's, which is a 100% in every subject, on every test, in every single one of the simulations and the such." Tsunade went on. "They would have sent him off earlier among the genin, but they thought he was too young. He left the Academy when they realized he'd been sending a Kage Bunshin to the Academy almost since the first week while he trained elsewhere."

"What!?" All present screeched. Even the adults hadn't known this. Most of them had never even managed to learn the technique, either the teens or the adults. It was, after all, a kinjutsu of the jonin class. Rare few ever mastered the jutsu, genius or not.

"Just what kind of guy is he!?" Kiba exclaimed, staring horrified at the picture of the Uchiha when he was promoted to genin. He thought back to the time he was this kid's age and could only remember days spent mostly running around and playing with his friends.

"The kind of guy both Yondaime and Sandaime wanted as the next Godaime." Tsunade replied with a tired sigh. "Minato wrote this," she gestured at the scroll. "A year before his death, meaning Itachi was five back then. This thing says that by then, Itachi hated war and had sworn he'd one day find a way to stop all wars. As a Hokage who had fought as a soldier in the war that had just ended, something tells me Minato wanted to give Itachi a stepping stone to achieve this. Sarutobi-sensei seems to have agreed, stating in the footnote that he had not met an old sage that could be wiser than the six year old Itachi he first personally talked to. From all that we've told you, you can guess why Itachi would be the perfect Hokage."

"So why did he never become Hokage?" Naruto asked curiously. He had always thought negatively of Itachi, but it was justified on his end. Itachi had killed the Uchiha Clan save Sasuke, who left the village in order to search for enough power to kill his brother. That lead to Sasuke becoming a rouge and Orochimaru's next container. And that's not even mentioning the crap he put them all, especially Naruto, through as an Akatsuki member. But it would seem that he wasn't such a bad guy after all ... if it were all true, that is.

"We're guessing Danzo found out about this scroll and tried to hide it. He couldn't destroy it since Sandaime and Yondaime made it from a special paper that cannot be destroyed and the words are written with chakra, rather than with ink or something else, so it can't be erased or edited." The busty woman explained, once again tapping the scroll. "He could only hide it."

"Why are you so sure Danzo-sama hid it?" Sai questioned, although he sounded more curious than defensive or disbelieving. He may still wear a ROOT uniform but his loyalties are now to the Hokage and to Team Kakashi first and foremost.

"Who else would it be but Danzo?" Asuma answered instead. "He's been wanting the title of Hokage almost as long as my father could remember and he's hated dad and Minato-san. This was his chance to get the post and to wring it out of the hands of an Uchiha, no less. It'd be too tempting not to."

"He's got a point." Shikamaru agreed. "If Danzo's really been after the office as much as you all say, then he'd definitely be the prime suspect in this situation." The others either nodded or said nothing at all. "What doesn't make sense is that, if Itachi was such a threat to Danzo, why didn't Danzo just have him killed?"

"Because of his greed and his lust," Kakashi immediately answered. "Itach was something like Neji in the Hyuuga Clan, only for the Uchiha. There was no one as gifted as Itachi when it came to the Sharingan. And Danzo's revealed that he wanted the Sharingan even before Itachi joined the ANBU." Yamato nodded along.

"So he's like Orochimaru? You know, wanting someone else's power as their own and willing to do anything to get it?" Naruto asked curiously although there was some disgust in his voice, as he was obviously disturbed by these thoughts.

"I shudder to think on the matter of whether or not Orochimaru, too, wanted Itachi's body as he wants Sasuke's." The Sannin said with a shiver. "Sasuke's a genius and very talented, but he's no Itachi. The only thing that Sasuke has better than Itachi is chakra reserves. A Cursed Seal would take care of that with ease, if Orochimaru ever got the chance to do it." She shook her head. "Anyway, the point of this meeting is to give you all a very important assignment: get Uchiha Itachi back to Konoha and to accept his rightful position as the now Rokudaime Hokage!"

"WHAT!?"


	2. Chapter 2

**The Next Hokage  
**

 **Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?**

"I can't believe we're doing this." Naruto complained for the hundredth time in five minutes, annoying all those around him, which were Neji, Shikamaru, Sai, Sakura, Kakashi and Yamato, the supposed 'ideal' team to find and bring Itachi back to Konoha. "I mean, I'm already searching for another Uchiha, so why can't someone else go and look for Itachi? Why does it have to be us?"

"Because my Kage Mane can bind him and Neji should be able to knock him out." Shikamaru replied. "And he and his partner, Hoshigaki Kisame, were assigned to get the Kyuubi, which means we need _you_ as bait. Sai, Kakashi and Yamato are ANBU level, so they'll be great backup or to keep shark guy busy while Sakura is a medic nin and the best at dispelling genjutsu. All in all, we're the best team to deal with those two."

"Not to mention that we have backup along the way back." Sakura added. "We're just supposed to catch him. The others are going to help us drag him back to Konoha."

"But he's not the one who's in danger of getting his body snatched by a snake pedo pervert!" Naruto shouted, turning to look at the rest of the group. "We have less than six months to get Sasuke back! If we don't, he'll be gone for good!"

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder and Naruto looked up warily, expecting Yamato and one of his scary expressions. However, he was greeted with Kakashi's calm, black eye and a small smile hidden beneath the dark blue mask. "Naruto, if we bring Itachi back to Konoha, Sasuke is _bound_ to follow. _Especially_ if we make public knowledge of what happened before and during the night of the massacre. He'll want answers and I think Itachi will deal with him from there on out." Blue eyes got wide as Naruto realized the truth behind the statement and Kakashi smiled at his student. "This might be our first and only _real_ chance to get Sasuke back. We need to take before, as you said, it was too late and Orochimaru gets what he wants."

"Not to mention we're probably going to be hailed as heroes." Yamato added his two cents. "We'll be taking one of Akatsuki's strongest assets. From what the Bingo Book says so far, his bounty is the highest and he has yet to fail a mission."

"But wasn't he supposed to take me away, like, three years ago?" The blond asked. "You know, when he and blue boy came to Konoha after Orochimaru's attack while Ero-sennin and I were looking for Tsunade?"

"According to our information, taking you was optional, if the circumstances allowed it." The brunet stated and Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course that guy didn't fail a mission. It was almost like he was perfect or something. ''And with Jiraiya-sama around, I highly doubt it was possible.''

''He sure did get close enough.'' Naruto stated. ''Had Sasuke not run all the way from Konoha to there, he would have had no excuse, since they had managed to get Ero-sennin distracted by some hot girl.''

When the two former ANBU went to answer, Neji made a hushing noise and they shut up. He focused his white eyes and with his Byakugan was able to see a few chakra signatures right up ahead, a mile or so away. ''I think it's them, since the chakra levels of one of those people match Kisame's.''

Kakashi immediately went into leader mode. ''Alright, remember the plan. Don't rush into this. Itachi is not the sort of ninja to sit idly while you try to correct a mistake. If we literally make _one_ mistake, he'll be gone and then he'll know that we're after him. We can't afford for him to figure it out before we're half way to Konoha at the very least. Got it?"

"Right." The others replied and Kakashi lifted up his hitai-ate, showing that the show was about to start and that they should get ready. Sakura quickly put on her gloves in case she needs to smash something, Naruto took out his kunai and Sai prepared his paint brush and a scroll. Shikamaru, Yamato and Neji just nodded and changed their stances a little.

"Let's go." And they burst into the clearing where Neji had seen those presences, Shikamaru's shadow reaching out before he was out of the woods and Neji already running straight at their target just a foot behind. The people in the clearing looked up and Kisame grunted as Sakura slammed a fist into him from the side with the loud battle cry of "CHANNARO!" The blue man flew into the water while Shikamaru's shadow connected with Itachi's.

"Shadow Imitation complete." Impassive black eyes looked up as Neji appeared in front of the man. Just as he was to hit the Sharingan user with his Gentle Fist, the raven haired man burst into a dozen crows, reappearing several feet away, free from Shikamaru's technique. "That's impossible!" The Nara yelled, startled. However, before he could do anything, he had to dodge an incoming three bladed scythe from the left. He looked up to see that Yamato was battling with his Mokuton against a creepy looking guy who was attacking him with some black thread. A boom informed him that there were more fights going on and he looked to his right to see Sai fighting against a blond bomber, both seeming to be raving about art as they threw jutsu after jutsu at each other. Another look around showed that Kakashi was fighting some strange origami using woman with blue-purplish hair while a ginger haired man with too many piercings for the guy to be considered normal was fighting Naruto. Doing a quick head count, Shikamaru came to a horrible realization. The tip they got about Akatsuki being nearby was from someone who must have lived near their hideout and they never said so. They had come completely unprepared for this fight. "Guys! We have to get out of here!"

"Not before I sacrifice you as an offering for Jashin-sama!" The man that had tried scewering him yelled and with a crazy laugh, he started chasing the genius around, Shikamaru mostly just barely dodging his attacks.

"Shit, these guys are strong!" Naruto gasped out as he and Kakashi were pushed back to back by their two opponents. "How're we supposed to _survive_ this, let alone get it done?"

Sakura suddenly landed at their feet, dizzy from the sudden drain of chakra from where she had gotten too close to the Samehada. Kisame joined in the slow circle the Akatsuki were making as Sai and Yamato were cornered by their enemies, too. Shikamaru ran into the circle, figuring the crazy gray haired man would leave him alone long enough for him to figure out a plan. They all looked up to where Neji was still trying to hit Itachi but the older genius was just easily stepping aside, his Sharingan not even active, all too easily tiring Neji out with his empty hits. Itachi suddenly got in close and slammed his own version of Juuken into Neji's stomach, sending the long haired teen flying right through the gap, into the Akatsuki circle with his friends.

"What is your business here?" Itachi asked, activating his Sharingan as he joined the circle, staring at the Konoha shinobi.

"It's obvious why they're here, un!" Deidara, the blond, blue eyed bomber, cried out in anger. "They're here to stop you from putting Sasori-dana back together, un!"

"Huh?" Came the collective sound of confusion from the Leaf ninja.

Deidara glared at them. "Don't pretend you don't know what's going on, un! You were informed by Sunagakure that Sasori had stolen a forbidden technique from a sealed scroll that can bring back a person's chakra after they die and you found out we're trying to bring Sasori-danna back, un. So you're here to interrupt Itachi at work, un!"

"But his heart was shattered in his fight against me and Chiyo-baa-sama." Sakura confusedly protested. "Chiyo-baa-sama told me if we destroy that container that held his heart, he'll die."

"Yes, but Sasori-danna wasn't stupid, un! He left a jutsu behind that will bring him back if we just get his old body back together, un. And he taught it only to Itachi, un." The blond boasted his partner's brilliance while Itachi rubbed the bridge of his nose because of a slowly incoming headache.

"Deidara, they obviously knew nothing of this." He pointed out.

"Huh?"

"I don't think even Suna knows we stole Sasori from right under their noses." The thread using buy stated. "They'd be searching for us by now if they did. Besides," he went on. "There's far too few of them to be an attack force on the Akatsuki."

"But then why are they here, un?" The blond asked in confusion, tilting his head as he studied the surrounded group.

"Well, they were going to tell us before _you_ oh so kindly revealed what we're doing here." Kisame ground out, pointing to the remains of Sasori in a sealed circle in which Itachi had originally been, probably working on Sasori.

"Shut up before I make shark sushi out of you, un!" Deidara threatened, taking out one of his explosive figurines.

"I'd like to see you try!"

"ENOUGH!" The ginger haired man of the group yelled. Everyone fell quiet and looked towards the authoritative male. Purple eyes studied them all. "We can't stay out here forever, since we left the base to Tobi and Zetsu and that can't be good." The Akatsuki nodded amongst each other. "Itachi, how much longer will you need?"

"Not even a full five minutes." The older Uchiha brother replied in his ever calm voice and the Leader nodded.

"You finish what we came here for and we'll deal with these annoyances."

"Hn," was all the long haired raven said as he turned around and walked back into the circle. He knelt down on one knee and placed both of his hands on two marked places and began channeling his chakra through the seal while the Konoha ninja watched him before Leader drew their attention away.

"Now why are you really here?"

"We came to take our Hokage-sama back to Konoha." Kakashi replied calmly ecen as he stared at what Itachi was doing a few feet away from the corner of his eye. Neji was openly studying the Uchiha, fascinated with his levels of chakra control while he channeled wave after wave of it into the seal. He was, as such, the first to notice the reappearance of a chakra signature in the puppet that was Akasuna no Sasori.

The Akatsuki members shot each other confused glances and Deidara, the gray haired one and Kisame openly shrugged while the others just furrowed their brows. It was the only woman of the group that spoke up in protest. "We didn't take your Hokage. We haven't even seen anyone from Konoha in weeks."

"Except Itachi, but he's Akatsuki, un." The bomber added as an afterthought and the woman glared at him. "What? It's true, un!"

"I don't think you understand. You have our soon to be _Rokudaime_ Hokage." Kakashi continued cryptically answering and the criminals exchanged looks again while, for some reason, Itachi stiffened. But then it became apparent it was because Sasori had tried to kill him with one of his poisonous weapons until he realized who it was.

"What the hell is going on around here?" The newly revived redhead asked as he clutched his head.

"Sasori-danna!" The blond all but flew at the puppeteer and Kisame cursed as he extended Samehada to Deidara's place so their captives couldn't escape. "You're back, un!"

"Ow! Get off of me, brat!" Yet, despite his words, the grumpy redhead made no move to push the bomber off. Itachi studied his handiwork for a few moments before nodding and standing up.

"It's done." He announced for the others and a small cheer went through the group. "Now what's this about a missing Hokage?"

"They seem to think we kidnapped their future Hokage, Itachi-san." The blue skinned man replied as he removed his sword from Deidara's former space so Itachi could take it.

"We don't _do_ kidnapping and hostage deals." The silver haired zealot told them with disgust. "We can't kill them or even torture them. Well, the weasel can, but only lightly." Said 'weasel' glared at him.

"If you don't want to find out if Amaterasu can really kill you, Hidan, I suggest you shut the fuck up." The creepy looking thread man with a mask and glowing green eyes snapped at the zealot, who they now knew was named Hidan.

"Whatever, dumbass. Jashin-sama will keep me safe and immortal as long as I follow his teachings!" He threw his arms open, nearly digging out the ginger's eye with his weapon. "Which reminds me, can I sacrifice one of them?"

"We _know_ you have our Rokudaime." Yamato quickly cut in before the group of rogue ninjas got tempted by the idea.

"And we're telling you we don't. We don't do those sort of things. We'd have to feed them and give them water, both of which costs money. We don't waste money." The thread guy replied tersely.

"Kakuzu is right. We kidnap someone every now and then and quickly deliver them to whoever ordered the mission, but we don't keep them with us." The girl said. "So, no, we don't have your Hokage."

"But you do." The Hatake insisted and the ginger grew annoyed.

"Look, we just _told_ you, _multiple_ times that we. Don't. Kidnap. And. Keep. Hostages!" The Rinnegan user snapped. Kakashi just smiled behind his mask but it was still pretty damn obvious.

"Whoever said that our Rokudaime-sama is a hostage?" That got him blank looks as Deidara helped Sasori to join the circle with their comrades. The Akatsuki obviously had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on.

"What are you saying?" The redhead asked when no one spoke for about half a minute. It was an awkward sort of silence. "And why aren't you trying to get away?"

"Because we need to get our Rokudaime." Kakashi replied. But before he could answer the other question, Itachi beat him to it.

"No."

"What?" Kisame asked of his partner but he just repeated his earlier monosyllabic statement.

"Itachi-"

"No."

" _Minato_ -sensei chose you-"

"No."

"The village _needs_ a Hokage-" Yamato tried but was cut off, too.

"No."

"It's your _duty_ as a Konoha ninja-" Shikamadu gave it a try, too, but it was fruitless.

"No."

"Itachi-" Kakashi tried again, but the Uchiha wouldn't let him get past that one word.

"What part of _no_ do you not understand?" The annoyed genius snapped.

"The part were you refuse to be the Rokudaime Hokage when two previous Hokage are vouching for you." Neji cut in before the others could try and reason with the Uchiha.

"What!?" The Akatsuki all yelled in shock before whirling around to gawk at Itachi. " _Hokage_!?"

"Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, has decided that Uchiha Itachi will be his successor when he just came to power. Itachi was four years or so old at the time." Kakashi said with a nod. "Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, agreed with the decision and made Uchiha Itachi _his_ successor when Minato-sensei died when Itachi was six and thus too young to be made Hokage."

"But he's a rogue," Hidan pointed out. "How the fuck is he supposed to be a damned Hokage?"

"Do you know _why_ he's a missing nin?" The oldest genius present asked.

"Yeah, he killed his clan and ran, un. Everyone knows that, un." The blond Akatsuki answered.

"Yeah, guess what?" The blond from Konoha answered before the others could say anything else. "Danzo made him do it."

Itachi stiffened. "How do you know?"

"Sandaime-sama kept a record of it." Yamato told his once platoon teammate gently. "Everything about the coup d'tat, Danzo's solution, his threat to Sasuke, his betrayal of you ... Everything. We know that, in all of this, you are practically innocent, Itachi-kun. Taunade-sama found it filed as an official ANBU order. Sandaime-sama made sure that you can't stay a rogue forever."

"You were supposed to become Hokage three years ago." Kakashi went on. "But we didn't know that at the time. Danzo had hidden the plans Minato-sensei and Sandaime made for you. So we're here for you now. Uchiha Itachi, you're the new Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Next Hokage  
**

 **Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?**

 _A small child took out his kunai from the center of yet another of his twenty targets, collecting the weapons so he could practice again. He had been at it since early this morning, trying out the new training grounds his clan had built in the woods for accuracy training. He knew he should start heading home soon, or else his parents sill get worried and start looking for him, which would be bad, since he's not supposed to be here. This training ground was supposed to be for chuunin, not little four and a half year old kids._

 _But Uchiha Itachi was no ordinary four and a half year old kid. He was probably the only child in any of the warring villages who had seen a battlefield like the one he had not so long ago. Especially at his age. There had been so much dead, all that blood running in rivulets, like red rivers. He shuddered just remembering it. And he looked down at his right hand. This hand had slit the throat of one of the surviving ninja, enemy they might be. Itachi still didn't understand why that man had tried to kill him when he was only trying to help._

 _He also didn't understand his Tou-san's intentions when the brunet man brought him out there. Why would anyone want their child to see that? Itachi thought children were supposed to be innocent. How can he be innocent now, after what he'd seen and what he'd done? Even if it had been in self-defense, he had killed a man!_

 _These thoughts have caused him unrest plenty of times in these past few months. He'd walk down the streets of Konoha and see children running around, laughing in joy and ignorance. They didn't know what was going on to the people outside the village walls, to the shinobi whose names they don't know but whine at their funerals because their parents forced them to go. Itachi always stood stock still, always looked at every face in the burials pictures, always stayed the last so he could visit the new graves to memorize the names of those who died so he can live freely. People called him weird and his actions unorthodox. Itachi wondered if they even knew he was trying to keep their memory alive or if they just wanted to went their grief at someone._

 _'_ Well, that's alright. _' He thought as he yanked a kunai out harder than necessary. '_ Let them went. I can take their grief and I can shoulder it for them. _' He could do it and_ will _do it, for the shinobi who died protecting him despite never knowing his name, just like all the other people in the village they died for. "Nameless shinobi ... who protect peace ... Is that a true shinobi?"_

 _He received no answer from the woods so Itachi shook his head and got into position once again. He could do this a couple more times before he would really have to go home. So he walked over to the center of the little clearing in the woods, pulled his feet a bit apart and closed his eyes to concentrate. A second later, he opened them and jumped high in the air, adding a little spin so he could aim at all the targets. He whipped out the kunai from his pouch and started throwing them. However, he soon started falling down and he sped up the throws, nearly landing badly on his head in his stubbornness to hit every mark. He still managed it, even if he got a bit of a scare when he nearly broke his neck. Had he flipped around a moment later, he would have been seriously injured at best, or dead as the worst case scenario._

 _He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of clapping and the little raven snapped his head up, throwing a couple of shuriken at the new presence more out of instinct than conscious thought, but his eyes widened when he saw it was a blond man with bright blue eyes and a kind smile standing there. The man easily reached up and caught the two throwing stars before they could hit him and Itachi sighed in relief._

 _"Please don't startle me," he politely asked, getting up from his crouching position. The new arrival walked over to the child and squatted in front of him just as Itachi took out two kunai from where they had, like all the others, hit dead center in the target._

 _"Sorry, Itachi-chan." The child flushed at the affectionate name. It got even worse when the blond ruffled his hair gently. "My, you've gotten really good at this." Blue eyes scanned the training grounds. "You have some real talent."_

 _"Not really. I just practice a lot," the Uchiha humbly said as he looked away. "I nearly failed this time. I was too slow. I'm most of the time to slow for that move."_

 _"You're just young." The adult insisted. "You can't jump high enough yet to stay suspended in the air long enough to aim at all the targets before you start falling down again. The fact that you can do this," he gestured at the many bullseye surrounding them with a bit of wonder in his voice. "Is already a miracle enough for your age. When I was your age, I could barely grip my kunai right."_

 _"I don't believe you." The dark haired boy insisted with a small pout. "You're a once in a generation genius. You're just trying to comfort me for being incapable of completely executing the technique."_

 _Blue eyes blinked at Itachi. "I didn't know as many big words, either." A grin showed on that tanned face and Itachi could no longer hold his pout, a small smile replacing it instead. "But you_ do _know that you shouldn't be here, right?"_

 _Itachi sighed but nodded. "I know. But this was a challenge. I wanted to see how good I was, how much more I need to train. I still need a lot more training."_

 _The adult sighed. "Itachi, you_ do _know that most kids with_ half _your talent spend far less time training then you, right?"_

 _"Don't you mean then kid's with twice as much talent as me?" The Uchiha asked in confusion and the kind man laughed a melodious sound._

 _"I somehow find it hard to believe that there could be someone with even an ounce of talent more than you have. No, Itachi. What I meant is that they grow arrogant because of their talent and train less. Arrogance in a shinobi is very dangerous. Yet_ you _, you Itachi, train more than most kids who have average abilities that actually_ need _more training do. I am saying you are an incredibly humble and hard working person. Traits like that just might make you Hokage one day."_

 _"If a person stops training themselves, they are limiting their capacity and their ability to evolve and grow. It forms a weakness." Itachi stated confidently. "Despite how strong we think we are, even the strongest of people have weaknesses."_

 _Namikaze Minato blinked at the little Uchiha before an amazed and wondrous laughter spilled from his lips. When he calmed down, he patted Itachi's head fondly. "Yeah, there's no doubt about it. One day, you will be Hokage." The newly appointed Yondaime said with pride in his voice and his godson flushed in embarrassment._

00000

"Uchiha Itachi, you're the new Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakura." Those words felt like the ground dropping out from underneath his feet. Red eyes studied the man who spoke despite there being no conscious act behind it. His Sharingan was doing it on his own. It was an automatic movement. And his Sharingan was telling him that Hatke Kakashi was not kidding or lying.

It was true. They wanted him to become Hokage.

"What!? But how can he be a Jashin-damned Hokage if he's been a fucking nukenin for the past eight years?" Hidan screamed at the top of his lungs, Kakuzu holding him back so the zealot doesn't lose it and kills the messengers.

"Do you even know the circumstances under which Itachi _became_ a missing ninja?" Kakashi countered. "Did you know it was either that or blood and war? Did you know it was either sacrifice or loss? Did you know it was either the clan or the village? We sure as hell didn't. Not until only a few hours ago."

The Akatsuki were once again staring at Itachi. Well, except for Kisame. Kakashi deducted he probably _did_ know. He and Itachi had spent many years as partners, living, fighting, traveling and surviving together. He guessed if anyone was bound to know then it was Kisame.

"Itachi, is what he's saying the truth?" The ginger haired man asked, purple eyes focused on the raven. "Were you really forced to chose between two impossible choices?"

"Yes. It was either the entire clan and war or the village and Sasuke. The choice I made still haunts me to this day."

"How can you live like that, un? It must be terrible." Deidara commented, bitting his lip as he remembered every time he tried to make things more difficult for the other and feeling guilty about most of them. Not all of them, for heaven's sake, no! He was still a criminal, damn it. He honestly thought Itachi deserved a couple of those difficulties, but he felt bad for the most part, still.

Itachi didn't answer Deidara. Instead, he spoke to the Konoha loyal ninja. "I am a criminal, no matter how that came to be. More importantly, I am Akatsuki no Itachi now. I have found a place where I am not the strange one, either for how much stronger I am than those my age or because of some quirks in my personality. I found a place where I can belong. I am sorry, but I am _not_ leaving this strange, dysfunctional, crazy new family I have found just because someone decided it would be a good idea to make me Hokage."

"Wow, that's the most I've ever heard you say." Kakuzu said with a whistle.

"Can you seriously turn down such an offer? This opportunity to redeem yourself by leading others into a better future?" The orange haired man questioned and Itachi let out a sigh.

"I won't live that long, Nagato. You know I am deathly sick."

"Tsunade-sama will be more than happy to treat you." Sakura jumped in, seeing an opportunity arise to drag Sasuke's older brother back to Konoha, which will hopefully draw Sasuke back, too. "I am sure she and Katsuyu-sama will be able to heal you."

"There, you can't use that as an excuse." Sasori said smugly. "Besides, you'd have to be crazy not to accept the position of Hokage ("That answers it for Ero-sennin." - "Shut up, Naruto."), especially if you earned it. You'd make a great Hokage."

"You should go for it, Itachi-san." Kisame encouraged with a grin. Although, if you looked a bit closer, you could see that he was rather reluctant for his partner to leave.

"Make the world a bit more peaceful, Itachi." The woman said as well. And she, too, wasn't all that pleased with him leaving. It would seem that what Itachi said was true. They were some group of misfits that had somehow ended up being family. And now one of them had to go.

"I'm not going anywhere, Konan." The Uchiha said firmly. "Not with Danzo there, not with Sasuke in Orochimaru's grasp and most certainly not without the Akatsuki. I haven't spent the last twelve hours bringing Sasori back just so he can get himself killed again."

"You should just go, un." Deidara said tensely, crossing his arms and turning his back on Itachi. Sasori nearly fell to the ground but caught himself at the last second and he glared at the blond. "The Akatsuki never really needed you, anyways."

Itachi snorted at this. "If I were to leave for a single day, you'd blow yourself up." The fact that nobody could deny this should have been hilarious but it ended up just being plain unsettling.

"We'll be fine." Nagato, the apparent Leader, insisted. Itachi just shook his head. "Itachi-"

"Akatsuki is a family." The Sharingan user insisted. "If you're not coming, then neither am I going to Konoha."

"We're wanted criminals with quite the bounties on our heads." Kakuzu pointed out reluctantly.

"So?" It, surprisingly, came from Kakashi, the lazy like response. "Itachi will be Hokage. He could just give you some time to serve and then enlist you as our ninja."

"That might actually work." Yamato mused. "Konoha would get her Hokage and nine new protectors. They should be more than enough to keep Orochimaru far from our walls and any ill wishers away from our borders."

"They would be the perfect strategy to stop wars." Shikamaru mused. "Everyone knows the Akatsuki is an organization of extremely strong ninja. Their mere presence, as well as the new Hokage's identity and Tsunade-sama's continued presence in the village ought to keep us safer than ever before. Konoha might even get new skill sets."

"Maybe we should take this one step at a time, dattebayo." Naruto suggested when he saw how some of the rogues stiffened a bit at the mention of skill sets.

"And the missions ought to contain enough killing and destruction to sate Deidara's, Kisame's and Hidan's need to kill things." Itachi mused. "I could work with that."

"Then it's settled." Neji stated with a nod and a small smirk. "Mission accomplished."

"Hold up!" Nagato protested. "No one ever said anything about the Akatsuki becoming a village's servants! I refuse-"

"Akatsuki is no one's servant. You'll be my new Special Attack force." Itachi said, already turning to travel in the direction of Koniha while sending a crow out with a message for their last two members to quickly join up with them with the rest of the Akatsuki's stuff. Zetsu's doubles should be more than capable of taking care of that. "You will be represented by Nagato as one of my Advisors." The ginger's mouth dropped open and only moved along with the rest of the group because Konan grabbed his hand and dragged him along as Konoha's shinobi lead back to their village with their new Hokage in their midsts. "Kakashi-san and Tsunade-sama would also be good in the Council of Advisors."

"Me?!" The silver haired jonin asked incredulously with his eye so wide it could have fallen out. He wasn't the only one shocked by these news.

"Hn, maybe I should start training Naruto-kun for the position as the Nanadaime." The blond in question, as well as the majority of the other Konoha ninja were gaping at the raven haired genius. "Not yet. He's still too young, I guess."

"You were five when you were declared the next Hokage!" Naruto incredulously protested the whole age thing. I mean, it was pretty absurd for Itachi of all people to say that. The Uchiha just looked at him over his shoulder.

"It is safe to say that I had the mind of someone at least ten times my age."

"Can't argue with that." Yamato commented with a chortle. "You're taking rather easily to the whole Hokage thing."

"Just the thought of firing and banishing Danzo makes my day." The younger ex-ANBU replied with a smirk. "I just need to take Shisui's eye back before I do that."

"Your cousin Shisui?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

Itachi nodded. "Yes. Both he and I were trying to stop the coup without shedding blood. He had this doujutsu, the Kotoamatsukami, that should have been able to subtly suggest to the Uchiha Clan that they will only ever _protect Konoha_ , to erase the whole coup d'tat thing from their minds. Danzo and Sandaime were aware of this plan. It, unfortunately, failed and Danzo attacked Shisui. One of his ANBU managed to poison Shisui and Shisui escaped, but not before Danzo managed to steal his eye. He contacted me, demanding I come right away. He told me what happened and gave me his other eye. Then he just jumped off the cliff to make it look like suicide, since if they knew what really happened, the Uchiha would have surely attacked, if for no other reason than because the village dared attack one of their own."

"That's the part of the story we were missing." Shikamaru realized. "Or at least just a fragment of it. Care to tell the rest?"

Itachi just nodded again. "After that, the Uchiha got increasingly more paranoid. I got blamed for Shisui's death and my father and I had a falling out. But one night I learned that there is a way for the Uchiha to control the Kyuubi and that my father was sure he could do it. The situation was becoming critical and Danzo gave me an ultimatum. I chose what I did and requested from Sandaime to watch out for Sasuke before leaving."

"The two who used to be your supposed teammates?" Neji questioned.

"Danzo's ROOT agents. Danzo planted them since day one to spy on me. One of them was the guy who ended up killing Shisui. He's been spying on me since I entered the Academy."

"Which means Danzo must have known about the intended next Hokage a lot longer than we thought." Sakura concluded. "We'll need to be more careful around that man."

"Indeed." The Uchiha agreed. "But I am not all that worried." He sent a small smile back at his new 'family'. "I gave you to protect me."

"As if you need the protection, Itachi-san." Kisame said with a sharky grin.

"Can we still blow this guy up, un?" Deidara hopefully asked and Itachi actually paused to think about it for a moment.

"I'll think about it." Deidara was more than pleased with this and started conversing with Sai about his artistic technique. Sasori ended up talking with Sakura and Kisame and Hidan spent half their time messing around with Naruto or all three of them pranking Kakuzu and Neji. Konan kept trying to bring Pein (Nagato) out of shock while Kakashi and Yamato walked on each side of Itachi, the three catching up on everything that has been happening in the time they had been apart. Later on, they were joined by the other two Akatsuki members - Itachi knocked Tobi out for some reason and had another of Zetsu's clones carry him - and then by the rest of the initial group as the lead the next Hokage back to Konoha.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Next Hokage  
**

 **Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?**

It took them two days to get back and when they did, they were in for a surprise due to the welcome that greeted them. It wasn't the big crowds that were cheering as soon as the large group was within sight nor was it the even bigger, colorful banners that welcomed Itachi back home or the ninja that bowed when they got close enough. It wasn't even Nekobaa and her cats and granddaughter interacting with other people or even Tsunade standing at the gates with a smirk on her face and Danzo in chakra cuffs behind her that surprised them. No, the surprise came in the form of two young women throwing themselves at the new Hokage.

"Itachi-kun!/Itachi-sama!" Both girls yelled as they almost managed to topple the surprised Uchiha with their momentum and force, but it was years of training that allowed Itachi to apply chakra suction in his feet just before he started losing balance. Two pairs of arms wrapped around his neck and two heads buried themselves in his cloaked chest as the girls continued talking over one another and the rest of the world watched.

"I'm so glad you're back!"

"You've grown so much!"

"I tried to go after you-"

"-but I was too weak-"

"-I would have been a bother-"

"I was so scared for you!"

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be stronger!"

"Itachi-kun!/Itachi-sama!" They wailed together again when Itachi awkwardly patted their backs. As soon as they stopped, they stepped back and the older of the two fished something out of her pouch. Itachi found himself blinking as soon as he felt her put something on his head. The girl with the two braids squealed and tackled him in a hug again as he lifted his hand to touch what had been placed on his head. His eyes widened when he felt the long forgotten texture and shape of the cat-ears ninja tool he used to wear so often in his youth and the exclamations of "Still so cute!" finally made sense.

"Shinko?" Said woman let go for a second time in less than five minutes with the same kitty cat grin he had grown accustomed to in a much younger face, a face he used to literally look up to. Inari Shinko, his once upon a time genin teammate, was now a fully grown woman. Her hair had gotten longer but she still wore it in the same style she always had. She even wore her hitai-ate as a bandanna like she used to. But that stopped him from further observing her red dress and black shinobi pants. Shinko had quit being a shinobi after the death of their third teammate, Izumo Tenma. Itachi had seen her once or twice more after that before he became part of the ANBU and rarely ever saw his brother, let alone anyone else.

"Surprised, Itachi-kun?" She teased as she grinned up at him. "How is it that those cat ears still make you look so cute?" The Uchiha regained his bearings and quickly moved to remove said ninja tool, finally hearing the choked off laughter from his fellow Akatsuki members and the snickers of his former ANBU colleges, but Shinko slapped his hand away. "Leave it on. Oh, Itachi-kun! You have _no_ idea how worried I have been all these years! Ever since you disappeared, I realized I had never been a very good friend and teammate to you! I should have been there for you after what happened to Tenma but all I could do was be a coward and think of myself." She hugged him around the waist, surprising him again. "I am so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Shinko. Tenma was trying to protect me. I should have know he would rush in without a plan. I should have protected him." The younger of the two old teammates said as he hugged her back. "I never blamed you, Shinko. I was really worried about you after what you saw."

Shinko pulled away and rubbed away the few stray tears that have cascaded down from her eyes. "I'm fine now. It took me a while, but I got over it. I regularly visit Tenma's grave, though. We could perhaps pay him a visit together later, yes?"

A small smile filtered to Itachi's lips. "I would like that. We would all be together again, even if not quite." Shinko nodded happily. "So how come you're a shinobi again?"

"I got back to being a shinobi almost three years ago, after I heard about your little visit to Konoha." The kunoichi replied. "I appealed to Tsunade-sama to let me continue on from where I left off and I soon joined in on the chuunin exams. I'm sorry to say I failed the first time but I nailed it the second time!" She declared proudly. "I became a jonin a few months ago. I wasn't going to rest until I could find you and try to bring you back home or convince you to let me stay with you, but you came back on your own."

"Why would you want to stay with a band of murderers and criminals?" A shocked Itachi asked incredulously and Shinko blushed a little while looked anywhere but at Itachi.

"Because Itachi-kun became my family while we were a team and my parents died in the Koniha Crush. I had no one else. I only had Itachi-kun, so I trained to find Itachi-kun and live with him." Black eyes widened when emotional brown met them. "I'm just so glad you're back!" And she hurled herself at him again, the man easily catching her and letting her cry until she was ready to let go. It took her a minute, but Shinko finally let go and had a curious and serious expression on her features. "Did you ever find the bastard who killed Tenma?"

"Yes, actually." He nodded and pointed to where Tobi was just coming back from the world of sweet oblivion that Itachi had put him into. Shinko instantly recognized him and rage filled her eyes. She clenched her fists and made to lung towards him when Itachi's hand on her elbow stopped her. "You can't kill him since he's my long lost cousin and the official member of my mew crewed up family, but you can try to beat the stupid out of him."

"That's good enough for me." The medic nin hissed and lunged at the petrified orange masked man. People tried to ignore his cries as the kunoichi dealt her revenge. Itachi just shook his head and pulled off the cat ears, storing them in his cloak when he noticed the other woman. She was younger than Shinko but still older than him. She had reddish black hair and large brown eyes and a complexion a shade darker than Shinko's. Her hitai-ate was wrapped around her forearm and her hair pulled in a ponytail. She wore a blue apron dress and black pants. The kunoichi was staring up at him with respect that almost rivaled Kisame's.

"Welcome back, Itachi-sama." The way she addressed him made it quite clear who it was and his eyes widened. "It's an honor to have you back."

"Himuka," he greeted back with a small smile as well. Suzukaze Himuka had been one of his genin teammates as well, after Tenma's death and Shinko's defection. She had always shown a great deal of respect for him, having realized he had greater skill than her and Aburame Yoji, who later ended up killing Shisui with the poison of his bugs. He had seen her only once after he became a chuunin and she had bowed to him. For some reason, she always referred to him as 'master', even now, years later. "I see you're well."

"I could say the same for you, Itachi-sama. I must say I was very sad when I heard about your part in the Uchiha Massacre but now I know the full story." The kunoichi happily said but the future Rokudaime froze.

"Himuka, how many people actually _know_ every little detail about the massacre now?" He asked warily as Sakura and Ino deemed it that Tobi had had enough and were now trying to wrench Shinko off of the masked man.

"Oh, everyone knows!" The woman replied. "Tsunade-sama was quick to inform us yesterday of what exactly had happened and that scumbag was brought in by the civilians in a matter of minutes, really. I think in less than half an hour." She pointed her finger at the tied up ex-Advisor. "He and his men tried to put up a resistance but when Tsunade-sama stepped up on the battlefield, they fled like cowards. More than half of them have been captured. The others have yet to turn up but two shinobi an hour come back to hand themselves in so they'd get a lessened sentence." But before anything else could be said, Humika suddenly rushed in front of Itachi and stopped Tobi's blade from attacking the Uchiha's back. She quickly gathered chakra into her fist and pummeled it into the orange, swirly mask, sending the offender into a nearby tree. She looked over to Itachi with a small smirk. "I guess now would be the right time to tell you Shinko and I will be your new secretaries, Rokudaime-sama."

They heard a small crack coming from Tobi's direction as the 'little fool' started cursing up a storm worse than the oldest and most foulmouthed sailor. But Tobi didn't seem to realize that his mask had cracked. Kakashi, however, did. "Obito!?" Said Uchiha looked up and cursed when he realized his mask was destroyed. Before he could react, in a very uncharacteristic move for the silver haired man, Kakashi tackled his supposedly dead friend in a big bear hug. "I can't believe you're alive!" He cried happily, almost squeezing the life out of the boy. "Why didn't you ever come back!?"

"He did, but not for the right reasons. It was a rough night fifteen years ago." Itachi told his once Captain before he was drawn into a headlock.

"Itachi! It's good you're back, my friend!" Kamano Saisu, a would-be-bully of one Uchiha Itachi but ending up being one of his first Academy friends, cried in the same loud and obnoxious voice he had used when he was a kid, only it was slightly deeper now. His hair had gotten longer but was still the same dark cream color. He wore a chuunin vest and was actually the first person Itachi's age to welcome him back. Shinko, however, beat him over the head so he would let go of the future Hokage as Tsunade finally made her way towards Itachi. She extended her hand and all noise and shenanigans ceased, even Kakashi's admonishing of Obnito for the Kyuubi attack all those years ago and the older Uchiha's rude protests.

"Uchiha Itachi, Konoha offers you its gratitude, its condolences, its loyalty and its welcome to you, as one of our villagers, one of our shinobi, one of our members of this big family and as our Rokudaime Hokage." There was a brief cheer from the crowd at this, and a bit of grumbling on Danzo's part. Itachi took her hand and shook it firmly.

"I humbly accept this honor and promise not to disappoint." The whole village and the forest hiding it trembled from the cheers that broke out this time. People pured in towards Itachi, all wishing to shake his hand and apologize for every ill thought they ever had of him or to congratulate him and welcome him back home as the Hokage. The Akatsuki sure as hell came in handy in such a situation. They surrounded the Uchiha in a second and just their imposing presence was enough to keep the crowds meek and calm lest they annoy an S-rank criminal.

"Well, at least they're good for crowd control." Shinko whispered to Humika and the younger girl snorted.

Tsunade cleared her throat as Shizune came closer with the white and red Hokage hat on a pillow. They all grew quiet again as the blond drew herself to her full hight. "Since I already knew everyone would be here," she began, looking back at the gathered people with a fondness only a Kage can feel for their village. "I decided to use this opportunity as the Hokage Initiation Ceremony." Gasps filled the air but no one dared utter a word, especially not as Shizune revealed that underneath the pillow holding the Hokage hat was a set of ceremonial robes very much like Minato's to represent the Hokage office. Only the coloring was in reverse. The whole trench coat was red with the words _Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure_ in white letters and black flames at the bottom of the coat. The black no doubt matched the dark clothing Itachi preferred. It was well thought out.

Tsunade stepped forward and tugged at the stunned Uchiha's Akatsuki robes. Getting the message, Deidara and Hidan were quick to take the coat off, leaving Itachi in his shirt with the fishnet underneath it and dark gray pants that matched the top. Tsunade turned around and took the red and white coat from Shizune, respectfully opening it and holding it out for Itachi. The Uchiha was still only staring at the village he had sacrificed so much for that had spent the past nine years hating him. So Kisame and Pein took the robes and Kakuzu and Konan helped put his arms into the sleeves. Sasori moved in front of the genius and took off his slashed hitai-ate while Zetsu fixed his collar and took out hi hair from underneath the coat. Through all of this, Itachi was still far too stunned and maybe a bit stupefied to move, as Konoha welcomed him back despite everything that he had done, despite all the mistakes he had made.

The last Senju picked up the Hokage hat she had only worn once or twice but had been a part of every other Hokage's every day life and stepped towards the new Hokage. When he realized his younger cousin wasn't going to move, Obito de-tangled himself from Kakashi and pinched Itachi's forearm, startling him back from his stupor to the real world. Tsunade winked at Obito before clearing her throat and saying in the most official and authoritative voice she could manage the words needed to make this official.

''I, Senju Tsunade of the Sannin, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakura, now step down from the office and hand it over to my successor, the successor Sandaime and Yondaime had envisioned in their place a long time ago. I hand over this office to you, Uchiha Itachi, to make you the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Will you accept this great responsibility and honor of protecting and leading this village, both in peaceful times and times of unrest?''

Thankfully, Itachi was back to his normal self by now, only a slight glimmer in his eyes giving away a hint at what he was feeling right now. ''I accept.'' Tsunade nodded and put the hat on Itachi's head before motioning for him to jump onto the arc of the gates. Taking a deep breath, Itachi did so and looked upon the village he had been ready to give everything but his little brother for. He was finally home. Konoha was accepting him back and a heavy burden fell off his chest.

The people stared up at their new Hokage with something akin to shock and wonder. ''I am Uchiha Itachi, the Rokudaime Hokage, and on this day, I promise that I will protect you all with my life, my soul, my body. I swear that I will never allow my pride to come before your needs. I swear not to allow any more wars to befall us unless we must fight for the safety of our children. And I swear that, from this day on, nothing will take me from you, Konoha. This honor has been bestowed upon me by Sandaime-sama, Yondaime-sama and now Godaime-sama. I will do my best never to dishonor their faith in me or to lose the trust you people have placed in me. This, I swear on my pride, on my name, on my heart, on my life and on my soul.''

The people let out cheers after the speech and confetti and fireworks were quick to be fired and released. Musicians came forward and started playing cheery tunes and performers were fast to dedicate their shows to the new Hokage. Some of the Akatsuki were immediately drawn into the crowd and Itachi laughed as he watched them all, the tears streaming down his face and falling on the doorstep of Konoha sealing his promise. He was home. He was finally home.

It has been nearly two decades since Namikaze Minato had decided Uchiha Itachi will be the next Hokage. It took a while, but he finally was and Konoha was on its way into a new golden age that will rival the Shodaime's rule.

The time of the Rokudaime, Uchiha Itachi, has begun.

 **A/N: One more chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Next Hokage  
**

 **Summary: What if Sandaime and Yondaime both already had it planned out who was supposed to succeed Minato, but it never happened because of a few circumstances Danzo made? Will Konoha search for this person or will Danzo have his way?**

''Hey, did you hear?'' A burly man asked his drinking buddy in a far off bar, somewhere in the Land of Lightning. ''There's a new Hokage in Konoha now!''

''Eh? Another one?'' A skinny man asked with a slight slur to his words. ''Didn't they just change one a couple of years back?''

''Yeah, they did. Tsunade-hime.'' The bartender said as he cleaned a glass cup for sake. ''But she stepped down because this guy was supposed to be Godime instead of her. Something about the Yondaime and Sandaime having agreed on it a long time ago but the guy was outside of Konoha when the time came for him to take up office.''

''Hey, wasn't that old hag also outside of the village when you went to get her, Orochimaru-sama?'' An albino boy with purple eyes asked, eating a bit of his pudding as they sat at one of the bar's tables. Said snake man glared at him for speaking his name so loudly and drawing the attention of the three men at the bar.

''Yes, she was, Suigetsu. She was drinking her wight in sake back then, until me and Jiraiya came along. She went with Jiraiya and Naruto-kun instead of just fixing my arms.'' The pale, long haired man hissed out as he remembered the humiliation those two had put him through. He was only glad it was them and not some upstart ninja. Now _that_ would be humiliating.

''So why didn't they just go get this guy like they did her?'' The annoying teen asked again before his face was pushed forward and his head smacked the table. He was only lucky to have his Kekkei Genkai to allow him to liquefy his head or else he'd have a broken nose if not skull to deal with. ''Damn it, Karin!''

The redheaded female huffed. ''Don't pester Orochimaru-sama so much. If he doesn't want to tell us, then he doesn't have to.'' The girl then looked back at the TV where there was a weather forecast. ''Man, it's gonna be hot for a while. Would you like to see me in a bikini, Sasuke?'' Instantly, her flirty side was on as she leaned closer to the younger Uchiha, batting her eyelashes at him.

''Hn,''was the raven haired boy's only reply as he took another bite of his onigiri, pushing Karina away with his free hand. The girl pouted but leaned away anyway. ''Why are we doing this, Orochimaru? Instead of wasting our time here, you could be teaching me a new jutsu.''

Kabuto glared at the Sharingan user. ''Still as disrespectful as always, Sasuke-kun.'' He sneered. ''If you really want Orochimaru-sama to teach you something, you should learn some respect and ask nicely, then _maybe_ Orochimaru-sama will indulge you.''

''Hn.''

Juugo was about to say something to prevent the two glaring males from fighting when the bar owner's wife barreled into the establishment, nearly knocking over the table with the six ninja. Every other patron looked up as she dove behind the bar and lunged for the remote there. She fumbled with it for a few seconds before managing to change the channel. She started surfing through the channels when he husband finally spoke to her.

''Honey, what is it? Is something wrong?''

The woman all but swooned throughout her answer. ''I just saw a repeat of a live interview with the Rokudaime Hokage-sama! Kyaaa! He's so handsome!'' And she proceeded to ignore her exasperated but not surprised husband as she continued her search for the right channel.

''Mako-kun, I think some old geezer is stealing your wife.'' The skinnier of his two bar guests snickered at his own stupid joke, obviously too drunk to realize he wasn't funny. The wife broke out of her daze to smack the man over the head.

''Moron, I love my husband but every woman's allowed to ogle a few good looking men every once in a while, right? Just like you pigs stare at us when we pass by.'' She humphed and went back to surfing the channels. ''And Rokudaime-sama isn't old.'' Sigh. ''He's so dreamy.''

''Women. Can't live with them, can't live without them.'' The bartender told the burly man, who chuckled at the truth of the statement. A shriek of pure delight and fangirliness echoed throughout the bar ad every other female looked up, joining in on the cry as their eyes turned to pink and red hearts. The rest of the customers had to clean out their ears with their fingers or check for blood and damaged eardrums. The pitch they had produced was quite dangerous.

 _''So, Hokage-sama,''_ the news reporter started as the camera focused in on her. _''You have a rather interesting sense of jewelry fashion there. Mind if I ask about it?''_

A deep chuckle vibrated through the TV and Kabuto, Orochimaru and especially Sasuke stiffened at the familiar sound. _''Not at all. I am guessing you mean this necklace, yes?''_ The girls swooned at the deep, velvety, smooth, dark voice the Rokudaime seemed to have. The reporter herself looked to be ready to faint as she soaked up the sinful sound. She barely managed to nod. _''Well, as you can see, it very clearly represents all that I am and was and will always be.''_

The camera finally focused on the Rokudaime Hokage again and the three above mentioned ninja in the bar paled when their eyes were greeted by flawless, pale skin, ash black hair and impossibly black eyes so much like Sasuke's own, only far wiser than the teen could ever manage. The man was dressed in a dark, long sleeved shirt with a high, lose collar that hid his neck and in equally dark pants that clung to all the right places. Over the shirt, he wore an open jonin west and over that, an open red and white trench coat with black flames framing the tailcoats. On his forearms, he wore what appeared to be ANBU issued wrist-guards and there was a strapped weapons pouch for kunai and shuriken. His forehead was adorned by the standard Konoha hitai-ate but there was another one strapped around his left upper arm, this one slashed horizontally across the middle. On his right ring finger he wore a red ring that read _Vermilion_ and his long hair was tied back into a low ponytail, except for two long bangs framing his incredibly handsome face. On his head was the white and red hat of the Hokage, proudly pronouncing his status. He was currently pointing at a necklace that had three pendants and Sasuke's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw one of them.

Uchiha Itachi was smiling as he explained his necklace. _''First from the right is my Clan's symbol, the Uchiha fan that represents our affinity to fire. It shows who I am and where I come from, my family and my past.''_ And indeed, there stood proudly on his chest the symbol of the clan he had slaughtered not even eight years ago. glinting under the light from the reflectors needed for shooting. _''The second one is Konoha's leaf symbol, representing me as their ninja and now their Hokage.''_ He finally pointed to a small red cloud framed with white gold. _''And this represents my time as an Akatsuki member and the family I made there.''_

''What the fuck is he doing there?'' Sasuke hissed, clenching his hand and forgetting he had his rice ball there. The poor onigiri stood no chance and met a quick demise. ''He's a murderer and a killer! They should be killing him, not interviewing him and making him Hokage!''

 _''And what of your forearm guards? Those are part of an ANBU's uniform, yes?''_ The woman asked immediately, wishing to hear his voice again.

 _''Yes. I was the youngest ANBU in history. My two years of service have shaped much of what I am today.''_ The Uchiha replied with a small smile. _''Kakashi-san, my captain, was a great role model ... When he wasn't reading his perverted books, that is.''_

 _''We agreed you wouldn't mention that!''_ A voice Sasuke all too well recognized complained from off screen and Itachi chuckled at Kakashi's plight. Even the woman and the cameraman snickered at the pouting silver haired Advisor. Beside him, Pein just shook his head.

 _''And what of your ring? It, too, is symbol of the Aktsuki, yes? And is it true, what I hear? Is it true that you have started a training regime for ninja who wish to learn from you and your Akatsuki members?''_

The raven haired man just nodded his head. _''Yes, all of what you just said is completely correct. This ring is one of the ten rings each Akatsuki member gets when they enter the organization, along with our cloaks. The rings today represent our elite group and my former Akatsuki colleges as my personal attack force and defense."_ He explained with a serious expression. _"Everyone wants a ring now, but the number of rings will always be ten. As for the whole learning from us bit, yes, there_ are _a lot of shinobi who want to learn from us. For instance, Kisame picked up sword fighting for our ninja. He currently has the most students. Deidara is training special bombing units. They'll never be bombers like him but he's teaching them the basics. Sasori also found a few people interested in learning the art of puppeteering and has a handful of his own students."_ Itachi looked thoughtful for a moment before going on. _"I teach a genjutsu class here and there, but I really have only one student and I think only one other can be added to this very short list."_

The reporter looked rather curious about this. _"Oh? How come? Is it because of your tight schedule?"_

The Uchiha smiled and quite the number of women that were watching this swooned. _"Yes, that_ does _have some impact, but it's more as to who these students of mine would be. The first is, naturally, Naruto-kun-"_ Sasuke choked on the drink of water he had taken at that moment to try and calm himself, spitting half of it all over Orochimaru and Kabuto. _"Since he's going to be Nanadaime, I figured I might as well tutor him in what he must learn. Currently, I am trying to teach him patience and subtility when one makes a political decision. As for his ninja training, I will not share any details. My other student would have to be none other than my otouto."_ Sasuke was joined in his choking and coughing by the two he had sprayed earlier while the other three teens watched in bemusement. _"I'm unsure if Sasuke has learned of the true story behind what I did or my new position as Hokage, but I would actually want to tell him myself in person. As for why he'd be a perfect student for me, well, we have the same eyes and we are brothers. I would train him in the arts of Sharingan before anything else."_

The reporter lady nodded along. _"I see. Now, you've mentioned political matters such as subtility and patience. Something tells me you needed both once the other Kages learned of this change. After all, the Akatsuki has been hunting down Jinchuuriki and stealing their biju for years now. Two of those Junchuuriki happened to be the Mizukage and the Kazekage. Sabaku no Gaara survived by some miracle. I'm afraid Mizukage-sama hadn't been so lucky."_

 _"Indeed, I needed all my diplomatic skills at their best to calm the other villages and stop an outright war."_ Itachi explained with a very professional tone of voice. _"Especially since I became Hokage without there being any special preparations for the exchange of Godaime and Rokudaime. Tsunade-sama kind of just sprang it on me when as soon as I stepped into the village-"_

 _"Can you describe your ceremony, please?"_

Itachi glared at the interruption but complied anyway. _"A team from Konoha had been escorting me and my Akatsuki friends back to the village, where we were greeted by all the villagers and shinobi. Taunade-sama welcomed me back home before declaring she wanted to do the ceremony now, since everyone was already there. Then she ordered to have the sake bottles popped open and the alcohol flowing. The celebrations lasted well into the morning of the day after the next. Then they put me in the hospital for a three day long operation to heal a deathly illness that had been plaguing me for years. The end result was a lot of exhaustion and sore muscles, but I am perfectly healthy again and they even managed to restore my eyesight in the process."_ The reporter gasped at the prospect of this man having been blind until recently and on the verge of death. For some reason, Sasuke felt sick to his stomach and not at all happy at the thought of Itachi dead or in pain. _"It's theorized to have to do with my chakra increasing after the illness was removed and it no longer needed to struggle to keep me functioning, alive and moving. My chakra reserves have increased tremendously since then. Anyway, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama - who came back when he heard what his teammate had done - supported me through the lashout of the other villages. The Kages wanted my head and the rest of the Akatsuki's head. My new Advisors - Tsunade-sama, Nagato and Kakashi-san - and I spent three days in a video conference with them, trying to assure them that I was not mind controlling them or something."_ The well mannered man actually rolled his eyes at this as he took off his hat and leaned back on the couch he was sitting on, resting his head against his fist as he put his elbow on the armrest. _"If Akatsuki had wanted anything from the villages, it would have been their destruction, not control over them."_

 _"That's pretty bold to say."_

 _"Our Leader had mostly bad experience with the hidden villages system."_ The dark haired man explained. _"He didn't believe in it and had made the Akatsuki in an attempt to destroy it. But that aside, he wanted world peace and he believed it can be achieved only through the Akatsuki ruling the world."_

 _"What an interesting view."_

 _"I agree. I, too, wanted an end to wars and I think that's what Yondaime saw in me. I only wanted to go about it a lot differently than Nagato. Minato-sama wanted to give me a chance to achieve this."_

 _"I see."_ The reporter nodded as she scribbled something down on a notepad. _"But back to the question: How did you get the other Kages to accept the Akatsuki as a part of the Leaf?"_

 _"Simple, really. The only thing, or person, that the hidden villages hate more than the Akatsuki is Orochimaru."_ The snake in question paled even more than his usual color. He was as white as a sheet. _"We have a personal agenda against him, since he deserted the organization - now,_ that's _a story I'll have to tell you sometime. We simply promised to deal with Orochimaru and his subordinates and most of my fellow Akatsuki have agreed to do missions for free for their home villages for the next year. Kakuzu protested but he was ignored. We're paying off our dept slowly, but surely. But I'll be the one dealing with Orochimaru personally, and soon."_

 _"Oh? Why's that?"_ The woman asked as Orochimaru started looking around like a mad man, searching for any possible signs of Itachi anywhere, as if the new Rokudaime would jump out of nowhere. Then again, they were shinobi. It was possible.

 _"He's planning on repeating his little body snatching plan, only with my little brother, Sasuke. Is it not every Nii-san's duty to protect their otouto?"_

"Kyaa~!" The girls in the bar squealed at the protective tone he used. Orochimaru looked downright sick with panic and fear now. Sasuke looked astonished as he stared up at the digital image of his brother's stern features.

 _"Stop doing that! We already have our hands full of your fangirls as it is!"_ A female voice yelled from off screen and the Hokage chuckled. _"No need to add more to it with being all cute."_ The man stopped laughing and glared at whoever had spoken while the rest of the people present chuckled. The news reporter soon got herself under control and asked the next question.

 _"So in the month you've been Hokage, there's not been a single problematic incident?"_

 _"Surprisingly, no. As soon as Tsunade-sama spread my story to the villagers, they regretted ever calling me a traitor and caught Danzo and his men_ for _us and delivered them to my feet. Danzo tried escaping from prison a few times, but he failed. Which reminds me. Orochimaru is now being hunted for grave robbing the Uchiha Compound's graveyard, too. Apparently he made a deal with Danzo to get the man a few Sharingan eyes in exchange for Danzo delivering sensitive information to him and getting me out of the village, but let's not go into that - as I said, a story for another time. Danzo was sentenced with treason of the highest order and he is waiting for the date for his execution. I'm afraid it was just unavoidable. Another Konoha Crush would be deadly right now."_

Silence filled the table of six ninja as Sasuke slowly looked away from the TV and at the Snake Sannin. "N-now, now, Sasuke-kun. This was before I met you-" A knife buried itself right next to his head as Sasuke stood up and started pulling out the Kusanagi with murder in his Sharingan red eyes.

 _"And how well are the Akatsuki integrated into the life of such a peaceful environment?"_

"I'm going to kill you." The younger Uchiha hissed in a deadly whisper.

 _"Wonderful, actually. As I've said, Deidara found himself teaching youngsters how to blow things up and he occasionally does demolition missions. Kakuzu is content to monitor Konoha's finances with the occasional mission here and there. He mostly goes after bounties, still, but he delivers the people alive and well to the person asking for them. It's usually political criminals or the such and he delivers them to the hidden villages, so it's semi legal. Sasori is content with just teaching about puppets and building them while occasionally helping out in the labs with poisons or in the hospital. Oh, Kakuzu helps in the Hospital, too. Kisame is mostly, as some have crudely stated, my guard/watch dog and an instructor of swordsman techniques. When he becomes restless, I send him out on some difficult mission and wait for him to return and collapse on the couch in my office."_ You could hear some protests off screen, no doubt from Kisame, and whatever was said, it made Itachi smirk before he went on. _"We opened two Rehabilitation Homes for the former ROOT members to help them get their emotions back. Konan is in charge of the junior home while Nagato is in charge for the senior one. He and Jiraiya make a wonderful team, especially if you add Naruto-kun and his 'talk-no-jutsu',"_ the reporter and everyone else present for the shooting apparently thought the air quotes were hilarious, for a few chuckles broke out. _"Hidan is mostly used by Ibiki in interrogations. It's usually just enough to hear his name and whoever is giving Ibiki more than the absolutely needed trouble sings like a bird."_

"Please be rational, Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto said in a panicky voice as he and Orochimaru jumped out of their seats.

 _"Zetsu is a great spy. I often send him off to learn this or that before deploying any unit. And then we have Obito, my older cousin and the only other Uchiha left besides me and Sasuke."_

Said teen froze and quickly looked over to the screen to see his older brother motioning for another man to come into the screen, only to have Kakashi come along, too.

 _"Please excuse Kakashi-san, but he's thought Obito dead for many years. Well, since Obito's been the manipulator behind the scenes of Akatsuki for years, I've decided to put him under Kakashi-san's care for the time being-"_

 _"They don't need to know this!"_ Obito protested, trying to get Kakashi to sit a bit further away from him.

 _"Until we're sure he won't try to unleash the Kyuubi again."_ Itachi finished with a smile. _"As you can see, we're doing fine."_

"There's another Uchiha alive?" Suigetsu asked with interest while Orochimaru gawked at the news, completely forgetting about his need to flee for his life.

 _"Is there any message you'd like to send to our viewers, Rokudaime-sama?"_ The reporter asked after a few more questions. Itachi nodded with a small smile and looked directly at the camera with surprisingly soft and warm eyes.

 _"I'll be coming to get you soon, Sasuke. See you then."_

The younger Uchiha just stood there as the interview replay ended and other news and gossip from around the Five Great Nations overtook the channel. The females of the bar sighed in disappointment that they could no longer watch the handsome man but returned to what they were doing before the interview with ease.

"Another round, please!" An annoyingly loud and oh so familiar voice called out from one of the private boots to his left and Sasuke turned around swiftly to see a six feet tall stack of empty ramen bowls and the top of a blond head. The waitress came over to their table with an amused smile, carrying another bowl of ramen and a portion of three dango sticks.

"My, my! You two sure can eat." She teased as she put their food down in front of them.

"Ittadakimasu, dattebayo!" Sure enough, it was Naruto. Sasuke wondered who could be with the blond and why they were all the way here instead of back in Konoha. He made to walk over there and actually ask his ex-best friend when the doors to the bar were slammed open for the second time and five people filed in, three of whom Sasuke recognized, heading directly for the blond's table.

"There you are!" Hoshigaki Kisame bellowed upon the eating pair. "We've been worried sick! What the hell made you think you can just run off like that!?"

"But we were hungry!" Naruto complained, only to start yelping when Sakura took a hold of his ear. "Sakura-chan, that hurts!"

"It's supposed to, you baka! Don't go around corrupting people!"

''I wasn't! I just suggested we get lunch and it was his idea to go here! Who was I to protest when he offered to pay!'' The blond defended himself while tears gathered in his eyes from the pain.

"Hokage-sama, you have a meeting with Nagato-san, Kakashi-san and Tsunade-sama in fifteen minutes!" Humika said in a panicking voice and the whole bar froze before turning to look in the direction of the private boot. "I don't want them to dismember me because you were late!"

"Itachi! How could you eat so much dango!? There's got to be seven helping here!" Shinko shrieked in horror while Shikamaru just muttered "Troublesome."

"How could you leave your duties behind like this!?" Himuka continued.

"It was my lunch break," everyone's eyes widened in the bar as that voice that had been coming from the TV until just minutes ago echoed around. The way he said it implied he had shrugged as well, but one had to wonder if he did, since Itachi was so polite all the time. "I would have come back in time. I'm never late. Now stop yelling. You're attracting a crowd."

"Well at least tell _someone_ the next time you do this if you're not going to tell your _partner_ of _eight years_!" An indignant Kisame sniffed and as Sasuke drew closer, he saw Itachi _did_ roll his eyes. It must be an apocalypse.

"Itachi?" The youngest Uchiha said hesitantly and the new arrivals jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. Naruto was up and glomping him before he could react but Itachi just smiled up at the younger Uchiha.

"Kisame, go be a dear and capture Orochimaru, will you?"

The blue man grumbled but did as asked, ending up having a chat with the three teens because he knew Suigetsu while wrapping the Sannin and his little pet spy up.

"Itachi, what's going on?" Sasuke questioned once again as Sakura joined the Team 7 glomp. Sasuke barely seemed to notice as he wrapped an arm around each of his friend's waists and Itachi's smile widened even as he gestured at the seat across from him in the boot.

"Sit down, otouto, and let me tell you a story. It _all_ started seventeen years ago, when Yondaime Hokage, my godfather, Namikaze Minato decided I should be the next Hokage..."

OWARI


End file.
